PHOTOS Bear Family’s 16-CD Complete Chuck Berry box set comes in a guitar case

Wondering what to get that music fan on your Christmas list who has everything? No need to worry, the amazing folks at Bear Family Records have got you covered with their brand new Complete Chuck Berry box set that included 16 CDs, two hardcover books, and if you order the limited edition version, it even comes in a full-sized guitar case!

The epic collection has been rumored since at least as early as October of 2012 and is scheduled to be available some time in October. The record label shared the photo at the top of this post on Facebook and teased, “Chuck Berry box under construction… Be forewarned 😉 ” They previously teased the release with the following video of Chuck Berry at the Beat Club in 1972 and added, “Our upcoming Chuck Berry box will be the stuff dreams are made of… Coming late this fall 😉 ”

So what exactly is included in the set that takes up sooooooo much disc space? In addition to Chuck’s complete recordings from Chess, the set will also include his later work with Mercury and Atco as well as previously unreleased tracks not available on the previous Hip-O Select Chess box sets, more rarities from the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, and several complete live concerts.

The detailed information comes from graphic designer and illustrator Mychael Gerstenberger, who has worked on numerous Bear Family projects including the Earth-alteringly epic Black Europe set released last year.

In the photos of the set you can see amazing artwork by illustrator Reinhard Kleist on the cover of the box and the books:

So why has it taken so long? Bear Family’s Richard Weize talked a little bit about that in an interview with Famous Last Words late last year. “I am working on a Chuck Berry box set which could take several years,” Weize said when asked about his upcoming projects at the time, “because if it’s going to be good, then you’ve just got to wait until you get things off the ground. So it’s not just a case of working on one product as you have to stop and think a lot about things and it takes a lot of research.”

Plus, you have to remember that Bear Family treats each of its box set projects as a documentary, with expansive books that include biographies, criticisms, complete sessionographies, and TONS of photos. For example, Mychael Gerstenberger revealed last year that Bear Family had “acquired the archive of the photographer who shot all of Chuck [Berry]’s promo pics in the 50s, with lots of fabulous, unseen outtakes.”

As far as the Complete Chuck Berry limited edition set, not much more is known that can’t be derived from the photos shared by the label on Facebook earlier this week. They captioned the photos with, “Ultra limited special de-luxe edition of our upcoming Chuck Berry box set. Comes in genuine full-size custom made guitar case 😉 ”

UPDATE – Thanks to The Chuck Berry Collectors Blog we now have more information about the set:

In addition to the complete Chess, Mercury and Atco studio recordings and live concerts mentioned above, the set will also include:

• an updated discography by Fred Rothwell

• a biography and other writings from Bruce Pegg, Mike Snow, and Roger Fairhurst

• hundreds of pages with photos by Harry Davis, Chuck’s uncle, taken during Berry’s early career

• previously unseen photos by Jean-Marie Perrier

• an introduction written by Paul McCartney

“The price for the box will be 299 Euros (appr. $400)…Those who want even more might try to get one of only 88 limited Deluxe Editions of this box. To celebrate Berry’s 88th birthday on October 18th, Bear Family packs the contents of the box (16 CDs, 2 hardcover books) into an original-size Gibson ES series guitar case. Price will be 499 Euros (appr. $660).”

The “limited edition” thing is new for the label, outside of vinyl releases, especially anything with an “ultra limited” billing that includes something as deluxe as a guitar case, so it’s unclear just how many of these will be made available. Also unknown is the retail price tag for the set. Considering that their sets usually run for over $20 per disc, plus $20 for a hardcover book (and this one has two!), then I would estimate the “regular” Complete Chuck Berry set to have a retail price of right around $375 or more. I have no idea how much the “ultra limited” edition will run. (It’s gonna cost a lot getting that thing over the Atlantic!)

The Chuck Berry set actually seeing the light of day is literally music to the ears of numerous collectors, not only because a lot of Chuck’s later recordings have never been available in the high-quality version that Bear Family is renowned at producing, but also because it confirms that the label has managed to strike a deal with Chess records! That will surely mean that more sets like Chuck’s will soon be on their way from Bear Family including the likes of Bo Diddley, Willie Dixon, Howlin Wolf and Muddy Waters!

In the spirit of full disclosure, I feel I should point out that I am an avid Bear Family collector and I regard what they do as one of the most significant historical endeavors conducted by any modern media institution. Each of their collections is invaluable, which is only slightly more than their actual retail prices. 😉 (That still means they’re worth every penny though!) For me, lifting the lid of a Bear Family box set is like that scene in Pulp Fiction when Vincent Vega opens the briefcase. I’m not kidding.

My Bear Family cherry was popped when I ran across their 12-disc Lefty Frizzell set in a bargain bin at a Media Play store. I didn’t know who they were, and I had basically only heard of Lefty (via Willie Nelson, Dwight Yoakam, Merla Haggard, etc) at the time. That thing rattled my very existence. Yeah, it’s pretty much just like every other addict’s story about the first hit.

My Bear Family box set collection just cracked the 80 mark with my recent addition of Carl Perkins’ Back On Top, which had been on my wish list for a while. And I admit that I have bought some sets simply because they were a great deal. (Why do I have an entire set of Connie Francis singing in German? Because it’s Bear Family damn it! It’s erstaunlich!

My wife doesn’t know it, but I’m already stuffing bills in the mattress in hopes of figuring out some way to get the guitar case version of the Chuck Berry set under the radar. Although I have to confess that I’m still disappointed I haven’t been able to figure out some way of getting that Black Europe set. I’m thinking about some sort of German Ocean’s Eleven heist of the Bear Family warehouse. Are there ten other people out there with thievery skills and a passion for music of historical significance archived in its entirety that want to join up?